GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONIST AGENCIES AND GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between government intervention programmes and growth of Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Anambra State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to ascertain the relationship between government intervention programmes and growth of SMEs in Anambra State, Nigeria. The population of the study is 250 owners of SMEs in selected commercial cities in Anambra State, Nigeria; and out of 250 copies of questionnaire distributed for the study, 200 copies were retrieved and used
for the analysis. Descriptive survey design was employed in the collection of data which were analyzed using correlation analysis, and the hypotheses were tested at a 5% level of significance. From the analysis, a correlation coefficient of .998 was arrived at, which
shows that, there is a positive correlation between government interventionist programmes and growth of SMEs in Anambra State, Nigeria. Equally, it was established that the coefficient level between government interventionist programmes and growth of SMEs in
Anambra State, Nigeria is high, and that correlation coefficient is significant at 0.01 levels (.000<0.01). Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected, and alternate accepted which states that there is a significant relationship between government interventionist programmes and growth of SMEs in Anambra State, Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommended the need for more public private partnerships in programme design, monitoring and evaluation due to political interference in government intervention programmes in Anambra State, Nigeria.